Modern dance masterpiece to hit Beijing stage

(CRIENGLISH.com)
Updated: 2008-11-07 15:22

Dancers from BeijingDance / LDTX rehearse their upcoming "Masterpiece Series", November 5, 2008. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com / Ma Ting]

BeijingDance / LDTX, one of China's most innovative modern dance ensembles, will take to the stage at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities Theater in downtown Beijing later this month, thereby beginning its first leg of a "Masterpiece Series" tour.

At a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon in Beijing, the dance troupe gave the press a preview on their "Moment of Color" and "Undetermined Domain", two of their master works, as a warming-up promo before their debut.

As China's first independent professional modern dance company, BeijingDance/LDTX was co-founded in September 2005 by Willy Tsao from Hong Kong and Li Hanzhong from Yunnan province, two renowned pilot Chinese modern dance artists. Also having other veteran choreographers and a new generation of dancers in its team, the dance troupe has been committed to providing a free platform for contemporary dance artists and their works over the past three years.

As artistic director and deputy artistic director of BeijingDance / LDTX, Willy Tsao and Li Hanzhong are also respectively the choreographer of "Moment of Color" and "Undetermined Domain", two earlier works that they have never brought commercially onto Beijing's stage.

"Moment of Color", choreographed in 2004 by Willy Tsao, is framed by 48 chairs to display the conflict, confusion and interpersonal relations of human life.

"Undetermined Domain", created in 1997 by Li Hanzhong and Ma Bo, instructor and leading dancer of the group, interprets, however, a spasm of human pains between one's materially being rich and spiritually being poor.

Already established his first dance ensemble in Hong Kong back in 1979, Willy Tsao later expanded his career to Guangdong and Beijing. His dance works and performances have so far been successful in Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, Europe and Japan.

The other two leading figures of his ensemble, Li Hanzhong and Ma Bo, have also some first-class works to their name.

According to Willy Tsao, the upcoming performances will be affordable for many, with regular tickets priced at 75 yuan and 40 yuan tickets for students, in contrast to the sky-high ticket prices to see most Beijing shows.

"The prices in Beijing are unreasonably expensive, totally out of the reach of ordinary people", Willy Tsao said. "Our team is dedicated to giving quality performances at low prices, and our shows don't cost much to produce. We are always pleased to share our works with audiences, especially students."

The 'Masterpiece Series' will also take to the stage in Tianjin in December after its run in Beijing.

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next Page